Solar System Test sp 12

Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

____ 1. One of the planets known to have rings is ____.

a. Venus c. Uranus
b. Mars d. Pluto
____ 2. Which of the following is NOT a Jovian planet?
a. Earth c. Neptune
b. Saturn d. Uranus
____ 3. Which of the following is NOT a terrestrial planet?
a. Mercury c. Mars
b. Earth d. Jupiter
____ 4. The formation of the solar system from a huge cloud of dust and gases is called the ____.
a. protoplanet theory c. planetesimal theory
b. nebular theory d. solar theory
____ 5. Which of the following is NOT considered part of the solar system?
a. terrestrial planets c. galaxies
b. Jovian planets d. sun
____ 6. The Jovian planets contain a large percentage of the gases ____.
a. nitrogen and argon c. oxygen and nitrogen
b. hydrogen and helium d. hydrogen and oxygen
____ 7. Which planet has a cratered surface similar to Earth’s moon?
a. Mars c. Mercury
b. Venus d. Saturn
____ 8. The planet with the greatest temperature extremes is ____.
a. Earth c. Mars
b. Venus d. Mercury
____ 9. Which planet has a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere and high surface temperatures?
a. Venus c. Mars
b. Earth d. Mercury
____ 10. The atmosphere of Venus is composed primarily of ____.
a. water vapor c. hydrogen
b. oxygen d. carbon dioxide
____ 11. Which planet has a greater mass than the combined mass of all the remaining planets and their moons?
a. Venus c. Jupiter
b. Saturn d. Pluto
____ 12. Which of the following is a characteristic of Jupiter?
a. huge rotating storms c. thin ring system
b. dense atmosphere d. all of the above
____ 13. The relatively small, rocky bodies generally found orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are known as ____.
a. comets c. satellites
b. asteroids d. meteoroids
____ 14. Comets with short orbital periods are located in what region?
a. Kuiper belt c. inner solar system
b. Oort cloud d. none of the above
____ 15. The early oceans became salty when
a. dissolved solids were carried from land into the oceans.
b. salt dropped from the atmosphere into the oceans.
c. sea creatures left salty deposits in their remains.
d. the heavy atmosphere did not allow salt particles to dissipate.
____ 16. About 99% of all matter contained in the solar nebula now exists in
a. planets. c. asteroids.
b. space. d. the sun.
____ 17. Which of the following planets do scientists NOT consider a major planet?
a. Saturn c. Pluto
b. Mercury d. Neptune
____ 18. Small bodies that orbit planets are called
a. comets. c. planetesimals.
b. moons. d. protoplanets.
____ 19. When early Earth’s atmosphere formed, which of the following gases were lost because Earth’s gravity was
too weak?
a. oxygen and helium c. helium and nitrogen
b. hydrogen and ozone d. helium and hydrogen
____ 20. Impact craters are caused by
a. solar bursts. c. exploding volcanoes.
b. atmospheric changes. d. collisions with objects in space.
____ 21. Which of the following planets experiences a runaway greenhouse effect?
a. Venus c. Mars
b. Pluto d. Earth
____ 22. The right combination of temperature, water, and oxygen
a. affects Neptune’s orbit. c. supports life on Earth.
b. causes gas giants to form. d. results in storms on Jupiter.
____ 23. Young Earth formed a core, mantle, and crust in a process called
a. layering. c. dispersion.
b. settling. d. differentiation.
____ 24. Early fresh water oceans became salty when
a. rainwater carried dissolved solid rock to the oceans.
b. coral reefs created a salty ocean bottom.
c. salt particles fell from the atmosphere into the oceans.
d. floods carried salty soil to the deltas and then into the oceans.
____ 25. The early atmosphere developed when many volcanic eruptions released large amounts of gases in a process
called
a. lava flow. c. combustion.
b. outgassing. d. ozone.
____ 26. A rotating cloud of gas and dust from which Earth’s solar system formed is called a(n)
a. solar nebula. c. solar eclipse.
b. supernova. d. astronomical explosion.
____ 27. When the solar system formed, smaller bodies joined together through collision and the force of gravity to
form larger bodies called
a. moons. c. planetesimals.
b. protoplanets. d. planets.
____ 28. Small bodies from which planets originated during the early formation of the solar system are called
a. comets. c. asteroids.
b. planetesimals. d. protoplanets.
____ 29. A day on Saturn takes about 10 Earth hours. Which fact would best explain this short day?
a. Saturn is less dense than Earth. c. Saturn rotates more rapidly than Earth.
b. Saturn is much farther from the Sun than d. Saturn’s orbit has greater eccentricity than
the Earth. Earth’s.
____ 30.

A student models an impact crater on the Moon by dropping a marble from a known height onto a pan of
smooth flour. Before reaching any conclusions about the results of this simple experiment, the student repeats
the activity several times so that:
a. differences produced by standard variabil- c. her ability to simulate a meteor impact be-
ity in conditions become clear. comes more realistic with practice.
b. she can produce as large a crater as pos- d. she can illustrate a perfectly circular crater
sible before measuring a diameter. for her write-up of the experiment.
____ 31. An astronomer notes the change in the position of Mars over several nights and then calculates that Mars or-
bits the Sun once every 400 Earth days. This figure is considerably lower than the 687 Earth-day orbit that is
widely accepted for Mars. The scientist should:
a. publish the findings to reveal the flaw in c. gather a new set of data and see if the res-
established orbital theories. ults remain the same.
b. form a hypothesis to explain how the orbit d. add 287 days to the calculations to match
of Mars can vary so greatly. the accepted figure.
____ 32. Which of the following statements best describes how the planets of the solar system formed?
a. They are condensed rings of matter c. The Sun captured them from smaller,
thrown off by the young Sun. older nearby stars.
b. They are the remains of an exploded star d. They formed from a nebular cloud of dust
once paired with the Sun. and gas.
____ 33. Evidence suggests that Earth is about 4.6 billion years old, even though no Earth rocks have been formed that
can be dated at more than 4 billion years old. This discrepancy is most likely caused by Earth’s original crust
being:
a. difficult to date so precisely. c. blasted away during Earth’s formation.
b. subject to extensive erosion. d. destroyed by solar radiation.
____ 34. It has been determined that the oldest rocks retrieved from the Moon by Apollo astronauts were formed 4.44
billion years ago, while the oldest rocks found on Earth are less than 4 billion years old. The difference is
most likely because:
a. Earth formed well after the Moon was c. Earth’s oldest rocks have been recycled by
formed. plate tectonics and erosion.
b. Earth cooled more slowly than the Moon. d. Earth and the Moon were both captured by
the Sun’s gravity at different times.
____ 35. Before humans visited the Moon and brought back lunar rocks, the age of the Moon was unknown. Radioiso-
tope dating of these rocks showed that the age of the oldest lunar rock was closest to:
a. 186,000 years. c. 4.4 billion years.
b. 6.5 million years. d. 15 billion years.

Matching

Match each item with the correct statement below.

a. the process that caused early Earth to form three distinct layers
b. a small body from which a planet originated in the solar system’s early development
c. a rotating cloud of gas and dust that gave rise to Earth’s solar system
d. a larger body formed when planetesimals joined together
e. the process responsible for forming Earth’s early atmosphere
____ 36. outgassing
____ 37. solar nebula
____ 38. planetesimal
____ 39. differentiation
____ 40. protoplanet

Match each item with the correct statement below.

a. a planet similar to Earth in size, mass, density
b. a planet with massive volcanoes and canyons; seasons are similar to Earth’s
c. the only planet with the proper combination of water, atmosphere, and temperature to sup-
port life
d. the planet closest to the sun; has a hot, heavily-cratered surface
e. the satellite that orbited Venus
____ 41. Earth
____ 42. Mercury
____ 43. Mars
____ 44. Magellan
____ 45. Venus

Match each item with the correct statement below.

a. a ring of debris that separates the inner planets from the outer planets
b. a planet with a complex ring system made of dust and icy debris
c. the largest planet in the solar system; has alternating light and dark bands
d. a planet whose atmosphere may contain a large amount of methane
e. a large planet with a deep and massive gaseous atmosphere; less dense than a terrestrial
planet
____ 46. gas giant
____ 47. Saturn
____ 48. asteroid belt
____ 49. Jupiter
____ 50. Uranus
 Solar System Test sp 12
Answer Section

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.1

STA: 1.a
2. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.1
STA: 1.a
3. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.1
STA: 1.a
4. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.2
STA: 1.b
5. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: L2 OBJ: 23.2
STA: 1.a
6. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: L2 OBJ: 23.2
STA: 1.a
7. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.3
STA: 1.a
8. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.3
STA: 1.a
9. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.3
STA: 1.a | 4.d
10. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.3
STA: 1.a | 4.d
11. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.4
STA: 1.a
12. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: L2 OBJ: 23.4
STA: 1.a
13. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.5
14. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: L1 OBJ: 23.6
15. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 3
16. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 1
17. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2
18. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2
19. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 3
20. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 1
21. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 2
OBJ: 3
22. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 3
23. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
 OBJ: 3
24. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 3
25. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 3
26. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 1
27. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2
28. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2
29. ANS: C PTS: 1
30. ANS: A PTS: 1
31. ANS: C PTS: 1
32. ANS: D PTS: 1
33. ANS: B PTS: 1
34. ANS: C PTS: 1
35. ANS: C PTS: 1

MATCHING

36. ANS: E PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1

OBJ: 3
37. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 1
38. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2
39. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 3
40. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 1
OBJ: 2

41. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3

OBJ: 3
42. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 2
43. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 2
44. ANS: E PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 2
45. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 3
OBJ: 2

46. ANS: E PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 4

OBJ: 1
47. ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 4
OBJ: 2
48. ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 4
 OBJ: 1
49. ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 4
OBJ: 2
50. ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: 1 REF: 4
OBJ: 2